At alttininitig.
Lord Palmerston received at his residence in Carlton Gardens, on. Monday, a deputation of working men, accompanied by the Reverend S. T. Bayley, Secretary of the Lord's Day Observance Society ; who pre- sented a memorial against the opening of the Crystal Palace on Sundays. Lord Palmerston told the deputation, that as they had been fair and just with him, he would be frank with them. He could not see how the opening of this pleasure-ground could be productive of the amount of evil which had been described,—but that was his private opinion. He must confess that he had frequently taken a ferry across the river on Sundays, and had also taken a row himself, and had seen persons on the.banks taking a breath of fresh air : but he did not see any harm in that. He thought the opening of the Crystal Palace would draw people away from public-houses. However, he promised, of course, to" consider," fie.
Arrangements have been made to erect a monument to the memory of Thomas Hood, in Kensall Green Cemetery. It will consist of a colossal bronze statue, standing on a block of red granite, bearing the simple in- scription—" He wrote the Song of the Shirt."
The case of Mr. Hale, the rocket-maker, of Rotherhithe, was brought before the Bow Street Magistrate on Saturday. Mr. Hale and his son were charged with having in their possession a larger quantity of gunpowder than the law permits to any manufacturer within three miles of the city of Lon- don, the limit being 200 pounds. The point which the Magistrate had to decide upon was, whether or not the article seized was really " gunpowder " the lawfulness of Mr. Hale's pursuits was not entered upon on Saturday. Mr. Bodkin, who appeared for the Crown, stated that the penalty for the offence charged was the forfeiture of the powder and a fine of 2s. for every pound in excess. Mr. Bodkin admitted that Mr. Hale was known as a maker of rockets ; and that in 1845 the Ordnance had made experiments with some of them. The factory had been closed for a short time, but was reopened at the beginning of this year. Superintendent Evans and other officers of the Police narrated how the seizure was made. The Solicitor of the Treasury directed Mr. Evans to ob- tain a search-warrant; armed with this he went to Mr. Hale's manufactory at Rotherhithe, and found a man at work making rockets. On the premises were several barrels of powder, and 1759 rockets; there were also shells. The man who was at work denied that there was any "gunpowder" in the place. When asked for the key of the "magazine "—a shed where the rockets were kept—the man said he had not got it: the officers threatened to break open the door—then the key was produced. In the evening the workman went to
Chelsea to see Mr. Hale ; some hours later, he returned, and said he had not seen him. The whole amount of powder seized was 257 pounds : none of it was granulated. Pistols were fired with some of this powder ; and it sent a was bullet through a board as forcibly as when granulated powder was employed. Some of the composition and two of the rockets were produced in court : the
rockets were formidable-looking articles, formed of cases with cast-iron heads filled with powder. Mr. John Thomas Way, analytical chemist, and Dr. Hoffman, who had examined the powder seized, pronounced it to be gun- powder : the ingredients were the same as some kinds of ordinary gunpowder ; it was not "granulated" nor "glazed "—these were the only distinctions; granulating increases the explosive force to some extent. Colonel Wilson, Director of the Royal Laboratory at Woolwich, and Mr. Tozer, a person em- ployed in the Laboratory, declared that the stuff was gunpowder. Similar ungranulated powder is used at Woolwich for driving fames to explode shells. Colonel Wilson said—" I have no doubt that it is gunpowder. I conceive that the composition is gunpowder even before it is passed through the mills and granulated. The granulation and glazing are done mainly to preserve it some time longer from injury by the atmosphere. Another of the objects is to prevent gunpowder going off instantaneously. There should be a per- ceptible time before the gunpowder explodes, in order that all the particles may be fully ignited."
The counsel for the defence, Mr. Clarkson, first urged that Mr. Hale's eon was not responsible if any offence had been committed ; and, after some dis- cussion, Mr. Henry decided that there was no case against the son, as it was not shown that he was acting as "master," and according to the terms of statute the master only is liable : young Mr. Hale was therefore discharged.
The general defence was then gone into. It consisted of the assertion that the "composition" seized was not "gunpowder," and therefore the de- fendant had not broken any law. Witnesses were called to support this. Mr. Curtis, of the firm of Harvey and Curtis, gunpowder-manufacturers, stated that his house supplied the "composition" to Mr. Hale ; it is not recognized as gunpowder, for it has not gone through all the processes. If a spark fell among the composition it would go oft; but not so rapidly as gunpowder : it would be more like what is called a "devil." Dr. Ure stated that he is well acquainted with the properties of gunpowder, and has written upon the subject. He described how gunpowder is made, and the difference between it and "composition." It is nonsense to call this coin- position gunpowder. If the composition were granulated it would make gunpowder, but not good. The composition would fizz instead of exploding; it never would be used in pistols. It is decidedly less dangerous to a neigh- bourhood than ordinary gunpowder. Mr. Bodkin replied to this evidence; pointing out that the question was, whether this composition could be looked upon as gunpowder in the ordinary intent and meaning of the act of Parliament. Mr. Henry said he would take time to consider his decision.
On Thursday, Mr. Henry gave judgment. He said he had looked into -. books on the subject of gunpowder, considered the evidence given before him, and weighed the intention of the act of Parliament; and he came to the conclusion that the "composition" was gunpowder—it might produce infinite mischief to the neighbourhood should a fire occur. He pronounced the excess of 57 pounds of powder to be forfeited, and inflicted a fine of 2s. for each pound of this excess.
The two Hales, and James Boylan, the man who was found at work at the factory, were then charged with having, "at various intervals between the 13th September 1852 and the 13th April instant, made, or caused to be made, divers large quantities of rockets, to wit 1000 rockets, in certain pre- mises near the Lower Deptford Road." Mr. Bodkin stated that the pro- ceedings were taken under the 9th and 10th William IIL, chapter 7, pro- hibiting the making of rockets, squibs, serpents, or other fireworks, and in- flicting a penalty of Si. for each offence. The accused had been manu- facturing rockets for forty or fifty days. Foreigners had been employed ; secrecy had been observed ; Mr. Hale's name could not be found at the Cus- tomhouse as an exporter ; and whence had Mr. Hale, lately a bankrupt, ob- tained from 1000/. to 20001. to make the rockets found on his premises ? Government had not been actuated by mere consideration of the public safety; and with a view of showing this he called witnesses.
The Police repeated some of their former evidence, with additions. Boylan had said that there was nothing but empty casks in a certain shed ; but he afterwards admitted that there were casks of composition. In the strong packing-cases found in the magazine were 1543 leaded rockets, 3629 rocket- heads, 2489 rocket-bottoms, 1955 empty rockets, 22 iron shot, and two in- struments for firing rockets.
August Usener, who had been an officer in the Prussian Artillery, and a major of the staff in the Hungarian war, deposed that he was employed by the Hales to make rockets about the close of September last, and that he worked for them to the beginning of November. "I knew nothing of the Hales before I went to be employed. I was introduced to them by M. Kos- suth. I first saw M. Kossuth on the subject last summer, on his return from America. About the middle of September I saw the elder Hale in the com- pany of M. Kossuth, at the house of the latter. A Hungarian adjutant was also there. M. Kossuth said to Mr. Hale, 'This person was in the Hun- garian service, and a late officer of the Prussian Artillery ; and I can recom- mend him to your employ to assist in making 'our' rockets, or ' your ' rock- ets do not remember which was the word he said. M. Kossuth said my wages should be eighteen shillings per week ; and he recommended me to keep the affair quite secret. Mr. Hale, he said, would point out what I was to do." Young Hale was much engaged at the factory. Usener left it from illness. "During the time I was at work at the factory, about the middle of October, I was sent to Pimlico by Robert Hale, to see M. Koseuth. I saw M. Kossuth at Pickering Place. William Hale and another Hungarian were there. We went to try a firing-machine. When we were all together, the machine was set up, and a trial was made with the rockets. The conversation took place partly in English, and chiefly about the qualities of the rockets, machine, &c. We were there about an hour and a half; and when it was all over, M. Kossuth and Mr. Hale desired us to leave the house carefully, one by one ; and Mr. Hale joined us at the corner of the street. On this oc- casion M. Kossuth repeatedly told us to keep his connexion with the rockets a secret. He spoke to me of this in German. On a subsequent occasion, about, a fortnight later, I went to Mr. Hale by direction of his son, and the former desired me to go to M. Kossuth, who, he said, would tell me what was the matter. I went to M. Kossuth, at his house at No. 11 Park Terrace, Kensington, and saw him in a room." Usener conversed with young Hale about Kossuth. "The younger Hale said to me and my fellow workmen, several times, When you leave work, you must not talk at the public-houses, or anywhere, about this factory, nor mention the name of Kossuth, nor even the word Hungarian ; because this would be the occasion to betray our work." Cross-examined—" I had ap- plied frequently for charity before going to the factory. I had not tried to get employ at Manchester or Birmingham, nor on any railway. Before going to the factory I was in prison for theft, for five or six months, at Maid- stone. I was perfectly destitute, and I took what was not my own." William Gerlack, a Hungarian, stated that he was employed at Hale's through M. Rossuth's recommendation. Besides himself and Usener, there were three other Hungarians at work, and an Englishman named Smith. They were forbidden daily to say anything about the factory. Sir Thomas Hastings, of the Ordnance, and Colonel Chalmers, of the Ar- tillery, stated that Mr. Hale's rockets had been tried by the Government, but not approved. Mr. Scanlan, acting-surveyor at the Customhouse, deposed that Mr. Hale's name had not appeared from 1843 to the present time as an exporter of rockets : but he admitted that rockets are often exported by brokers, who ought, however, to enter the name of their principal. Mr. Henry announced that he should not deal summarily with the case, but should send it before a Jury. Mr. Clarkson, Mr. Hale's counsel, said he was grateful for this. He reprobated the production of the Hungarian witnesses—one fresh from gaol—men who had pestered Kossuth to obtain for them the means of living, and who had therefore been recommended to Mr. Hale. Mr. Henry held the Hales to bail ; Boylan he liberated on his own recognizances. Mr. Hale said he would not apply to any friend to bail him ; and having persisted in this determination, he was sent in the prison-van te Horsemonger Lane Gaol.
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